title: Effect of high-dose zinc supplementation with oral hypoglycemic agents on glycemic control and inflammation in type-2 diabetic nephropathy patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aims to evaluate the effect of zinc sulfate on markers of glycemic control, lipid profile and inflammation in type-2 diabetes with microalbuminuria patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Type-2 diabetes with microalbuminuria patients on oral hypoglycemic agents (OHA) and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors were selected and divided into 2 groups: One group (n = 27) continued with OHA alone, second group (n = 27) was on OHA and in addition 50 mg elemental zinc as zinc sulphate supplementation for 12 weeks. Fasting, post-prandial blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, lipid profiles, inflammatory marker hs-CRP and urine microalbumin were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences in biochemical status among groups at baseline. After receiving zinc, the mean fasting blood glucose (FBS), post-prandial blood glucose (PPBS) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were decreased significantly (P = 0.0001). Significant decrease was observed in TG (P = 0.002) and VLDL-cholesterol (P = 0.002), whereas there was no significant decrease in TC and LDL-cholesterol. The high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was significantly (P = 0.0001) increased from baseline. Zinc supplementation had significant effects in decreasing serum hs-CRP from 10.51 ± 1.68 mg/L to 7.75 ± 1.56 mg/L (P = 0.0001) and microalbumin level from 146.87 ± 30.83 mg/day to 80.70 ± 33.99 mg/day (P = 0.0001). There were no significant changes in the levels of all these parameters in OHA group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results conclude that supplementation of zinc improved the effectiveness of OHA and may be beneficial in decreasing blood glucose, TG, urinary albumin excretion and inflammation in diabetic nephropathy patients and thus reducing the risk of complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, King George Medical University, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Mohd Idreesh
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Kauser Usman
authors.initials: KU
authors.lastname: Siddique
authors.forename: Fauzia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ashfaq
authors.forename: Wahid
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.forename: Himanshu D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Arvind
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mishra
keywords: Glycemic control; inflammation; microalbuminuria; type-2 diabetes; zinc sulphate